Talk: Jonathan Archer/archive

Archer's biography

Here's the timeline of Archer's career from "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II":

• Rank at Retirement: Admiral, Chief of Staff, Starfleet Command
• Commanding officer, Enterprise NX-01 2150-2160
• Ambassador to Andoria 2169-2175
• Federation Councilman 2175-2183
• President, UFP 2184-2192

Hi-rez screen caps rock.--Chuckhoffmann 07:54, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Dang right they do! Does this mean that this info. is canon completely, as in at those pages (i.e.: Federation President) we can add that Archer was president from 2184-2192? And so on for Ambassadors, Federation Council, exc? -AJHalliwell 16:55, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

I listened to Mirror Darkly, Part II Commentary at Startrek.com and Mike Sussman stated that he included on his Bio a Serial number did anyone see that on their Hi-rez screen caps. Rl3058

Here is the full text of the bio from "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" It was posted on the web by episode writer Mike Susman. He went on to say that it was hastily put together and went through no forms of approval by the higher ups. The section in italics was not shown on screen.

• STARFLEET PERSONNEL FILE: Archer, Jonathan
• Serial Number: SA-022-9237-CY
• Rank at retirement: Admiral, Chief of Staff, Starfleet Command
• Former Assignments:
  • Commanding officer, Enterprise NX-01, 2150-2160
  • Ambassador to Andoria, 2169-2175
  • Federation Councilman, 2175-2183
  • President, UFP 2184-2192
• Birthplace: Upstate New York, North America, Earth
• Parents: Henry and Sally Archer
  

"Son of famed warp specialist Henry Archer, Jonathan Archer was appointed captain of Starfleet’s first warp five starship, Enterprise NX-01. As an explorer and peacemaker, his name is among the most recognized in the Federation, and his pioneering voyages aboard the Enterprise are known to school children on dozens of worlds, many of which were unknown to humans in Archer’s lifetime. Historian John Gill called Archer the "greatest explorer of the 22nd Century." Archer earned an impressive list of commendations during his career, including a Medal of Valor, with clusters, the Star Cross, the Preantares Ribbon of Commendation, and the Federation Citation of Honor. Archer was also appointed an honorary member of the Andorian Guard by General Thy'lek Shran in 2164. He’s the only human to have two planets named in his honor: Archer's Planet in the Gamma Trianguli sector, and Archer IV, which orbits 61 Ursae Majoris. Archer IV was the first M-Class world charted by the famous explorer. Although the planet was uninhabitable throughout the 22nd Century due to toxic pollen in the atmosphere, an antidote to the pollen was discovered early in the 2200’s. Today, the population of Archer IV numbers more than seven hundred million."

"Archer died peacefully in his home in upstate New York in the year 2245, exactly one day after attending the christening ceremony of the first Federation Starship Enterprise, NCC-1701."

--docdude316 03:08, 3 May 2005 (UTC)

I believe the rule of thumb regarding on-screen text is that it's canon unless contradicted by dialogue. For example, Geordi's bio in "The Next Phase" gave his mother's name as Alvera K. La Forge but "Interface" established her name to be Silva La Forge.

One major exception to this would be the registry number of the USS Yamato, which was given the registry NCC-1305-E in dialogue in "Where Silence Has Lease" but was given a more consistent registry number on screen readouts in "Contagion". – The preceding unsigned comment was added by T smitts.

Johnny's Rank

I thought he was promoted to Admiral when Enterprise returned to Earth. Aren't those Admiral pips on his uniform at the end of TATV? Emerald Knight 03:26, 16 May 2005 (UTC)

They still refer to him as Captain and there's the line "I've heard he's already been tapped for admiral" which indicates he's not at that rank yet. He still wears four pips in TATV which indicate Captain's rank, though the dress uniform with the high collar does make him look a lot more important, so maybe that's where the confusion came from. Jean Prouvaire 01:40, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

PNA?

Can someone make it clear what it is that neads attention? I am willing to work on the page, If I have an idea what Memory Alpha is looking for. -- User:Terran Officer Sept 19, 2005. 6:48pm EST

I'm sure this could use more info on his tenure as commander of the Enterprise. Also needed is more info on his relationships, including those with his Enterprise crew (and Porthos!) I will probably be writing info for Trip Tucker, the Ericksons, and Porthos in the near future, though. --From Andoria with Love 01:04, 28 Dec 2005 (UTC)

The recent revision made by an anon needs to be fixed, as it includes some info that can be taken as personal opinions. In fact, the article in its entirety needs work -- grammar, spelling and what not. Some info is also told in the wrong perspective. --From Andoria with Love 16:33, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Just curious

Did the character Johnathon Archer or the Enterprise he commanded "exist" before Star Trek: Enterprise? – The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.191.46.213.

Short answer, no. The character or Archer wasn't reference before Enterprise, although he has been sort of ret-conned into it. For example, in TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise", we here of a planet called Archer IV, which we learn in Enterprise, was named for the captain. Also, in Nemesis, we see a okodogram listing the USS Archer, obviously an attempt to make some reference to him. I hope this helps. --Jaz ^{talk | novels} 06:06, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

Schenectady

Several references to "Upstate New York" were just changed to "Schenectady, New York", which apparently is a small city in NY state. Is there any canon reference to that city (in that case, cite), or is this speculation based on something (in that case, move to background info), or is it fan-fiction (in that case, remove). I will change those references back to "Upstate New York" if there's no explanation given. -- Cid Highwind 14:02, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Archer's Wikipedia page claims that Schenectady is mentioned in the section of his biography not seen on-screen but created for "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II", the paragraph regarding his death. --Defiant 14:39, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

We have a paragraph on this talk page that was not shown on-screen and meets that description, but does not support Schenectady:

• Archer died peacefully in his home in upstate New York in the year 2245, exactly one day after attending the christening ceremony of the first Federation Starship Enterprise, NCC-1701.

I say it gets removed, unless someone can come up with the actual source. --OuroborosCobra ^talk 14:45, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

The reference was removed. Never was a specific city or town in New York named as his birthplace. --From Andoria with Love 03:01, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

And it seems to be back... --TommyRaiko 20:24, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

I have removed it again, and before I get accused by someone of too many "reversions" (long story), I am not the person who removed it the first time, Shran was. Since he removed it, no further evidence has been presented to support the claim, therefore I have removed it again. --OuroborosCobra ^talk 20:30, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

You did the right thing, Cobra. I'll go ahead and alert the anon who keeps posting the information; if he continues to do so afterwords without a canon, valid source, I'll revert it again and then protect the article from being edited by non-registered users. --From Andoria with Love 01:05, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

The New York thing

Is the only reference to Archer being born in New York the above-quoted Sussman-written graphic from "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II"? If so isn't it made non-canonical by the "Broken Bow" dialogue in which he flatly tells Phlox that he's lived in San Francisco all his life? CzechOut ☎ | ✍ 13:55, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Not at all. I know people born in England that were brought up in Canada. They state that they've lived in Canada all their lives... even though that's not precisely true. -- Sulfur 14:18, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Fair enough. Found the exact (dialogue) source of the claim ("North Star"); changed article slightly to make it more clear. As the pilot, "Broken Bow" tends to loom a little larger than a mid-3rd season episode, so it's probably helpful to some users (and certainly to me) to make it absolutely clear the NY thing isn't just a Sussman pen-scratching in the waning days of the program. CzechOut ☎ | ✍ 01:58, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

Archer also said he was from upstate New York in "Storm Front, Part II". --From Andoria with Love 02:21, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

Scotty and Archer's Beagle

I made a note that the incident with Archer's beagle was in the alternate reality since the article didn't make that clear. My only other concern is that Scotty only says "Admiral Archer" and at this point in time Archer had stepped down as President of the Federation. Nowhere is it stated that he rejoined Starfleet and he would have been called "President Archer" since that was his highest position. It is possible that this is one of his descendants or another admiral who happens to be named Archer. Should the fact that it is not explicitly stated to be this Archer be noted? Also, Scotty was born in 2222 so his birthday wasn't affected by the alternate timeline and he was 11 when the Narada changed the timeline so the beagle incident would have been after the timeline change.IndyK1ng 23:24, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Which is why i removed the ref altogether, seeing as "Admiral Archer" is mentioned in the top disambig on the page. Honestly, we can only speculate, but the namedrop (in combination with the beagle ref) is too close to be a coincidence. Unfortunately it would seem that unless it was stated in dialog or by the writers as being intentional, then it is a different person. --Alan 23:28, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

While I agree that the reference shouldn't be mentioned in the in-universe portion of the article, I think the reference is clear enough to go into the "Background" section. We don't know in-universe whether Archer is Jonathan Archer; however, it's quite clear that out-of-universe, the combination of "Archer" and "beagle" is a reference (direct or indirect) to Enterprise's captain. —Josiah Rowe 03:28, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

I found a quotation from Kurtzman and Orci confirming that "Admiral Archer" is an Enterprise reference. [1]:

Alex: Admiral Archer gets referenced.

Bob: That’s Enterprise.

Hope that helps. —Josiah Rowe 05:35, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

A reference does not mean it is the same Archer. See this article's background section and the section in the article on Admiral Archer.IndyK1ng 05:39, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

I know that. I wrote some of those sections, and I'm not advocating moving the text to the in-universe sections of the article, or merging Archer with Jonathan Archer. I was just pointing out that the writers had confirmed that it was an intentional reference. —Josiah Rowe 05:45, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Actually, upon reflection, I think we could treat this the same way that we treat Picard's remark about having met Sarek at "his son's wedding" in the Spock article. We didn't create a separate page for "unnamed son of Sarek" based on that line; we accepted the writers' expressed intention that Picard was referring to Spock, and mention it (with a caveat) in Spock. Why can't we do the same here? —Josiah Rowe 20:41, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

It just seems ridiculous that Scotty could have met an Admiral Archer who was actually Jonathan Archer in the timeframe we are discussing. At the time of Scotty's birth in the early 23rd century, Archer would already have been about 100 years old, having been born in the early 22nd century. By the time Scotty would have been able to operate or modify a transporter, even as a young man, would make Archer well over 100, approaching 150 even. Even if Scotty got a hold of his dog after Archer's passing, Archer was mentioned to be a former President of the Federation in his 23rd century bio in the ENT finale, making it odd that he would be referred to as "admiral" rather than "president". This is different from the Sarek case in that it was fully possible for Spock to be that unnamed son of Sarek (especially since we knew Sarek to be quite old and Spock's only brother to be deceased), this one is more unlikely and thus makes it more difficult to accept as an assumption. -- Captain MKB 21:04, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Was it Jonathan Archer? Maybe. Was it Porthos? No. A dog living for a century? That's a bit unlikely even for Star Trek. I kinda think it was Archer's kid, but if it was the same dog probably not.- JustPhil 21:06, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree that it's highly improbable that the dog was Porthos. But barring Archer's presidency, it seems quite possible that the admiral was Archer. Was Archer's presidency mentioned in the ENT finale? The article suggests that it comes from "In a Mirror, Darkly". I haven't seen either episode since their initial broadcast, and I don't recall whether the detail about Archer becoming president of the Federation was from dialogue in either episode or from the biographical display. If the latter, it can be put aside, the way we put aside the details of Archer's death. If the former, then that presents more of a problem for identifying Scotty's admiral as Jonathan Archer. —Josiah Rowe 21:23, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

The detail about Archer's presidency is from the bio screen, so yes, it's "secondary tier" canon. Additionally, Scotty's use of the phrase "prize beagle" instead of "pet beagle" could suggest that Archer became a breeder of beagles, after Porthos. --TimPendragon ^Hail 21:28, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Right, then. If the presidency comes from the info screen, which Mike Sussman himself said wasn't necessarily canonical, I think we should go with something said on screen rather than something from an info screen.

Heck, maybe the timelines diverge earlier than we thought. Perhaps in the "prime" timeline, Archer became President of the Federation in 2184, but in the new timeline he never served in that post. After all, the Defiant came from the "prime" timeline, and Scotty beamed the beagle in the new one... but now I'm being speculative and silly.

Seriously, I think that given the writers' stated intent, this is the same as the "Sarek's son" situation. Which means that Archer should be merged back here. —Josiah Rowe 04:11, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Note: in the United States, former presidents (and vice-presidents) properly revert to their previous titles. So it's entirely reasonable that Archer would revert to "Admiral" after his term as Federation president was complete. Powers 03:06, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Bones was 137 and healthy in "Encounter at Farpoint". —Scott (talk) 20:19, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Really? I have never heard anyone refer to George HW Bush as "Lieutenant Bush", but have heard him called "Mr President" many times since 1993. Dangerdan97 21:24, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

I think it's unlikely that "Admiral Archer" is a descendant of Jonathan Archer. Why wouldn't a spouse or children be listed in his biography read by Hoshi in "In a Mirror Darkly?" Also, the appearance of a Romulan ship that makes quick work of a Federation starship and then disappears would no doubt change Archer's plans, regardless of his age. He would want to help in a 'hands on fashion' meaning he'd likely reactivate as an Admiral in Starfleet rather than become a politician. With the writers explicitly stating that it is a nod to Enterprise, the fact that the last name is used, and that a beagle is what get's transported... I mean how much more does one need? Agent Xu--24.113.223.154 01:25, 12 May 2009 (UTC)